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The EOD IS-Survey Tool was introduced to a group of mine
action personnel in Chile on 10-21 May 2004. All ten participants were
members of the Chilean armed forces. The first week consisted of classroom
training at the Army Engineer Central Command in Santiago, Chile. The
trainers were Stefan Kallin, Fredrick Johnsson and Jeal-Paul Rychener
and the training was done in English, with many portions translated into
Spanish. Classroom training was followed by field exercises in a nearby
city park.
The second week consisted of field testing of the Survey
Tool at minefields north of Arica along the border between Chile and Peru
in the Atacama desert. A one-day trip was also made to the Altiplano (Andean
high plateau) by a few participants to test the system at high altitudes.
In both locations, the terrain was flat to gently rolling, sandy and rocky,
with no vegetation. It was warm with very clear skies.
In Chile, all minefields were laid by the Chilean armed
forces along borders with neighboring countries, so they were accurately
mapped using traditional techniques and are currently surrounded by fences
and warning signs. The Chilean armed forces are responsible for demining
efforts. One notable characteristic of Chilean minefields, at least in
the area north of Arica, is that they are very extensive in size.
In contrast to the other three deployments, the University
of Kansas evaluation team arrived late during the first week of training
and therefore did not observe most of the first week’s training
activities. Despite this, evaluation forms and written observations were
collected and 9 interviews were conducted. Additional reports were written
by Major Henry Ilufi and Simon Berger, and a presentation was made by
Lieutenant Miguel Lopez at the IMSMA
annual meeting, Geneva, Switzerland in July 2004.
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